Pitfalls
Pitfalls abound in activism. Each individual carries some around some internal pitfalls. It’s tough to be in the middle of a knock-down-drag-out fight and be blindsided by one of these. Friends can hurt us more than the enemy. Moreover, we often hurt ourselves. Avoid show stoppers at all cost. Successful activists are self-aware. The successful activist must be introspective. Primary and Secondary agendas Primary agendas, such as saving the world, often take a back-seat to seconday agendas. Secondary agendas can beat out and be given priority over the primary agenda. Knowing secondary agendas can protect activists when one or more other members sell out. Thus, part of what is gained by knowing thyself is a much better understanding of other people. Such knowledge won’t prevent the surprises, but may prevent stunning stopages and total immobilizations. Accept personal limitations, skills and abilities. Few are qualified to lead. Leadership requires the ability to inspire followers. In addition, folks who have good ideas are also few and far between. For all the tasks involved in planning, organizing and executing a strategy - not all members of a group were created equally. It’s the individual activist’s responsibility to recognize his/her proper place. Internal power plays. Power plays almost always come from participants with delusions of grandeuer. Distinguish facts from opinion Facts are always supported by evidence. Opinion is supported by thin air. Mis-labeling something as an analysis, which is pure unsupported and unsupportable opinion, is simply a lie. It’s a common lie, but it’s still a lie. Successful activism is hideously addictive. The longer a person is involved and the more successes s/he tallies, the harder it is to break the habit. The longer an individual participates, the more successes are logged and knowledge is gained. Then eventually, the activist realizes that retiring will be like destroying the only copy of a pretty comprehensive reference book. Successful activists gather information prior to acting. Loosers act while ignorant. Successful activism consumes huge amounts of time. It’s not just learning the basics, it’s researching the specifics for each fight. Once the solid knowledge foundation is laid, there’s just more time remaining to invest in the specifics. The activist never has enough time to learn and do everything necessary. Successful activists are: * self-aware, * know secondary agendas, * know skills and limits, * cognizant of the addictive quality of the activity, * aware of the time commitments required, * idle when ignorant. Pondering unanswerable questions Why did some person or group take what is apparently a self-defeating or illogical action? Don't go there. The largest black-hole puzzle, or sink, is trying to figure out the motivation of others. Motivations of others are impossible to discern and are irrelevant to getting the job done. Whether the puzzle is presented by an individual or a group or a group of groups, the puzzle will arise repeatedly. Seeing what others do, the activist will wonder (for instance): are they idiots or do they work for the other side? The only thing that matters is what he, she or they have done. Why they did it is absolutely irrelevant to the task at hand. Many Anti-Establishment Establishment Groups exist These groups have carved out niches in the activism ecosystem and they guard their territory and power religiously. They also find as highly suspect any new folks who have (what they perceive as) delusions of grandeur. New volunteers willing to blindly follow orders and act as good little foot soldiers, don’t raise their hackles. It is the new person with the audacity to offer a strategy, or question the authority or logic or efficacy of a proposal who becomes immediately suspect. Also suspicious is the outsider who appears to be infringing on what the group identifies as “its territory”. The useful lifetime of an activist group is five years. When hearing about the success(es) of a group, note the date of the last success. Is it years or decades since the last successful fight? In gathering the history of one of these groups, it is important to get factual information. This can be difficult because the leaders of these groups will sometimes usurp credit for the successes of others. In many instances, they unhesitatingly usurp such credit despite that they actually fought to undermine the very efforts of others which led to those successes. In fact, it’s not that unusual for these groups to issue press releases or hold press conferences claiming credit for a win while fighting against it behind the scenes. When it has been years since an alleged activist or group has had a success, that huge, deep, black hole opens directly in front of the listener. The listener’s mind immediately begins to spin around the questions of “why has it been so long?” and “have they been infiltrated?”. Uh-uh-uh! Don’t go there. Go back to the blackboard and write 2000 times …. Grassroots efforts rarely stop specific projects. Efforts may gain changes and/or concessions, but specific projects go forward and the reasonable goal activists have is to gain changes to make the project as acceptable as possible.